No Make-in-India car for PM Modi? Congress slams purchase of new Mercedes

The Congress on Wednesday (December 29) launched an blistering attack on the “pace” at which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was changing his cars and purchasing only foreign makes for his cavalcade at a time when the economy was down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Congress also took a potshot at how PM Modi’s Make in India project was a mere slogan.

Raking up the PM’s description of himself as a fakir (ascetic), Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh pointed out caustically that every citizen in India would like to be a fakir like Modi since he flies around in an ₹8,000 crore aircraft, rides in a ₹20 crore car and spends ₹2,000 crore on building a home.

A Mercedes-Maybach S650 Guard was recently added to the PM’s cavalcade by the Special Protection Group. The government has however said that the new car was a replacement of the BMW used by the PM, as the German carmaker had stopped production of the vehicle.

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The SPG security detail also stipulates a six-year period to replace vehicles used for the protectee, revealed government sources to the media. Moreover, Modi has not given any preference on which cars to use.

Vallabh however alleged that the PM had changed five cars in seven years. Pointing out that in the last two years, people have lost jobs, their salaries have decreased, businesses have witnessed a downturn. People’s buying capacity has been hit due to the pandemic and we have to think twice before buying a pair of clothes. The RBI also says consumer sentiment is depressed, Vallabh added.

But, according to Vallabh, there seems to be no change in the PM’s pace of changing cars. Why are you buying cars? he asked. The Congress spokesperson said India had seen PMs who cared for the people and not who changed cars every alternate year.

It was Mahindra Scorpio in 2014, BMW 7 Series in 2015, Toyota Land Cruiser in 2017, Jaguar Range Rover Vogue in 2019 and Mercedes Maybach in 2021, he told reporters.

Vallabh also mocked PM’s constant pitch for Make in India. The Congress said Modi has not boarded an India-made car since 2014 when he used to travel in a Mahindra Scorpio. PM Modi’s ‘Vocal for Local’, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ have all remained as mere slogans because the PM does not use an India-made car after the Scorpio.